The Gunwalker investigation moves to Mexico

The Los Angeles Times is reporting a couple of interesting things in relation to the investigation into the Operation Fast and Furious fiasco.

First it seems two AK-47s purchased by a straw buyer ended up at the scene of a shoot out with the murders of a prominent Mexican Attorney.

According to testimony provided to investigators with the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the two guns were sold to a straw buyer watched by agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, who were under orders not to stop the guns from crossing the border. The ATF surveillance program, called Operation Fast and Furious, was supposed to lead to the arrests of high-level drug cartel figures.The two guns were subsequently linked to the suspects in the torture and killing of Mario Gonzalez Rodriguez, the brother of Patricia Gonzalez Rodriguez, who was then attorney general of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. The link was first reported by Fox News.

Gonzalez, kidnapped in October, became well-known across Mexico with the release of a video showing him handcuffed and surrounded by hooded gunmen, making a statement — under obvious duress — that alleged that his sister had been involved ordering killings and in protecting the Juarez drug cartel.

His body was found in November. Patricia Gonzalez Rodriguez, who has denied the charges, asserted that her brother had been kidnapped by members of the Sinaloa cartel.

Several municipal police officers arrested in connection with the killing were subsequently released.

"Following Rodriguez's murder, when Mexican police attempted to arrest the suspects, guns with serial numbers tracing back to Operation Fast and Furious were found at [the] scene," a brief oversight committee statement said.

It would also seem that Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Darrell Issa, (R-Calif.), will be traveling with eight other lawmakers to Mexico City for meetings at the Federal Police offices and at the U.S. Embassy.

I would hope there will be heavy security for the visit, as Issa and the other lawmakers are what's known as "high-value targets," and I suspect the cartels are none too happy with him. It's time we had some answers as to how high this mess goes. And it's time for some prosecutions.